Roy Williams, a wide receiver out of Texas who was selected 7th overall by the Detroit Lions in 2004, announced his retirement after nine NFL seasons.

Quote:

"My time in the NFL is over, had a great time, ups and downs, met soooo many ppl, fans, and friends," Williams wrote. "Played with some of the best athletes in the world, alot of ppl don't get that opportunity. But now it's time for me to have my family time that I've missed for the last 9yrs, spending it with Jordan and Dallas and the ppl who love me, so I will never strap it up again (even tho i can still play), but at the same time I'm ready to give that dream up.

Quote:

"Came into the league healthy, and im walking away healthy, with my head held high. Thank you all who've cheered for me, booed me, and loved me, y'all are still fans to me!"

He crashed hard after we traded him, but overall, he was pretty good during his four seasons here. It was still a very smart move to trade him--even if he had moved on to be a solid receiver with Dallas, it was just time for him to go. Take issue with his silly first down celebrations all you want, but he was a bright spot on an otherwise really, really bad team for a long time.

Generally a good due. You could tell he wanted out toward the end of his stay here, but at least he took the high ground, said the right things, and didn't disparage the franchise after leaving, even though the Lions gave him plenty of reasons to do so by failing to build anything around him.

Trade well spent, I would have traded him for Pett anyday, possible for Levy as well (this is hindsight, of course, but it's easy to see how well this trade worked out for us)

The trade worked for Detroit and its certainly a part of Williams legacy to Detroit.

I'm going to remember him as a player who came and contributed during the darkest days of the Lions franchise.

Can you imagine how bad the atmosphere around the Lions must have been?

I'd imagine pretty horrible... I remember numerous blackouts, which means the fans weren't into it. I remember looking forward to away games because I could watch them. Embarrassing huh?

I don't mind his first down signs either. We needed that, I think he was trying to bring energy to the team. It's easy to make fun of that, because when you're down it just looks silly, but I think he had good intentions.

All in all, I don't have a problem with the guy. I wasn't as keen of the trade at the time, because I was a lot younger and so used to draft picks not panning out so I had a lower value of them... but I never had a problem with the guy. I wish him the best!_________________

detfan782004 wrote:

diehardlionfan wrote:

When I die I want the Lions to be pallbearers so they can let me down one more time.